Sen. Dick Durbin's Senate hearing aims to suppress ALEC donors

To recipients of a letter Durbin sent to about 300 groups in connection with his hearing, the intimidating message was clear: Stop supporting the American Legislative Council (ALEC), a bipartisan group of conservative-leaning state legislators. Because ALEC once supported stand-your-ground laws, Durbin wants to scare off donors to the group. Ironically, Durbin is using his perch as chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights to threaten our First Amendment freedoms of speech and association. Durbin was quoted in a news account on the letters saying, “my concern is with the lack of transparency. As a public official, when I take a position, I stand up to explain and defend it. I file annual financial disclosures, campaign finance reports and have to face the scrutiny of public opinion.” The legitimate purpose of disclosure is to allow citizens to monitor elected officials to prevent corruption. Durbinism is the concept of using disclosure to allow elected officials to monitor citizens and suppress dissent.